Sony Santa Monica Working on ‘2nd Wave’ PlayStation VR Title

Expect the PlayStation VR line-up to get a shot in the arm at E3 2017.

The PlayStation VR head-mounted display (HMD) has now been available for several months, and the spate of launch windows titles has run dry. We’re now in an interim phase with AAA pushes like Farpoint coupled with smaller indie titles. However, it seems that Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) are now preparing for a ‘2nd wave’ of releases, with Sony Santa Monica leading the charge.

The studio that is responsible for the bloodline titles in the hugely popular God of War franchise has already dipped its toes into the virtual reality (VR) waters, teaming-up with Vitei Backroom, The Tangentlemen and Plastic, for Modern Zombie Taxi Co., Here They Lie and Bound, respectively. Of course, there was also that prototype of a God of War VR experience revealed alongside the PlayStation VR HMD – then known as ‘Project Morpheus’ – back in 2014.

Since then, employees of the studio have gone on record to state that VR is ‘a part of their dialogue’, with many key members of staff invested in the technology. However, VRFocus has recently learned that Sony Santa Monica is developing a full VR videogame title for PlayStation VR.

A representative of Sony Santa Monica who wishes to remain unnamed told VRFocus: “There’s been a number of projects brought to [Sony] Santa Monica, but many of them have just been prototypes from game jams. [sic]

“[Sony] Santa Monica are working on something big. It’s a full-blown 2nd wave title for [PlayStation VR]. It’ll be revealed soon and I know it’ll go well with the core PlayStation audience, but I can’t say any more than that!”

It’s highly likely that this, amongst many other new titles, will be revealed for PlayStation VR at this year’s Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), Los Angeles, next month. The PlayStation VR continues to have a generous line-up of releases, but there’s very little in the way of known first-party titles still to come. VRFocus will of course be in attendance at E3 2017, and will keep you updated with all the latest from the show floor.

An experienced videogame journalist with more than a decade covering console, PC and mobile platforms. Editor-in-Chief at VRFocus, Kevin Joyce oversaw the launch of the website in 2014 and continues to lead the operation on a daily basis.